HE the Minister of Environment Ahmed Amer Mohamed al-Humaidi yesterday honoured students and schools that took part in environmental awareness campaigns for the 2014-2015 academic year. The minister praised the schools and students who played a part in making this year’s campaign a success. He added that the goal of the campaign was to raise awareness of citizens and residents on the importance of conserving the environment. The minister thanked the Supreme Education Council for its co-operation, which helped make the campaign a success. He also thanked other authorities that took part in the campaigns.
Free recall for 2014 Mercedes-Benz S-Class
The Ministry of Economy and Commerce has announced a free recall campaign of Mercedes-Benz S-Class vehicles made in 2014, due to a potential manufacturer’s defect in the engine cooling fan.
The campaign is being jointly conducted in co-operation with Nasser Bin Khaled Automobiles, the authorised distributor of Mercedes-Benz vehicles in Qatar.
Indian embassy Open House on Thursday
The Indian embassy will hold an Open House on Thursday to address any urgent consular and labour problems of Indian nationals in Qatar.
The Open House will be held from 5.30pm to 6.30pm. Written information on issues/cases proposed to be discussed with the embassy may be given from 5.30pm to 6pm.
This will be followed by a meeting with embassy officials from 6pm to 6.30pm.
SEC alters timings for Independent schools
The Education Institute at the Supreme Education Council (SEC) has decided to reduce the school
day to six hours at all Independent schools due to the scorching summer heat, local Arabic daily Arrayah has reported.
The school day ends at noon with this decision, which came into effect yesterday. Some international schools have announced Ramadan timings from 8am to 1pm.
Advisory Council holds meeting
The Advisory Council held its regular weekly session yesterday chaired by its Speaker HE Mohamed bin Mubarak al-Khulaifi.
The Advisory Council reviewed a draft law on civil defence and decided to refer it to the Internal and Foreign Affairs Committee for a report.
The Council also discussed the report of the Legal and Legislative Affairs Committee on a draft law amending some provisions of the Telecommunications Law issued by Decree Law No 34 of 2006, and decided to submit its recommendations the Cabinet.
Meanwhile, the Advisory Council’s Internal and External Affairs Committee also held a meeting yesterday.
Seminar on risk management
A seminar on “risk management on public-private partnerships (PPPs) in the Mena region” will be held at the Qatar Chamber (QC) headquarters tomorrow.
The seminar is jointly organised by QC and the International Chamber of Commerce - Middle East and North Africa regional office.
Qatar Development Bank, Manateq and Qatar International Centre for Conciliation and Arbitration (QICCA) will take part in the seminar along with some international consultation agencies.
The seminar will provide an opportunity to understand the underlying principles and theories of PPP along with practical studies and knowledge. It will bring together government and private organisations to facilitate important and fruitful discussions in this respect.
Meanwhile, the fifth and final stage of the training programme to qualify commercial arbitrators to acquire professional certification has been concluded by QICCA with a strong presences of students from Qatar University.
The programme aimed to adequately prepare Qatari commercial arbitrators to appear before the GCC Commercial Arbitration Centre.
Katara award nominations
The organising committee of Katara - the Cultural Village’s Arabic Novel Award has announced the start of nominations for the second edition of the award.
Nomination for three categories of the award - unpublished novel, published novel and literary studies - will be accepted for works issued during January-December 2015.
Accordingly, the website of the award, www.kataranovels.com, has been updated.
‘Al Khor Park to be one of biggest’
Al Khor Park, set to be opened soon, will be one of the largest parks in Qatar, Tariq Juma al-Tamimi, director of the technical affairs department at Al Khor and Al Zakhira Municipality, has said.
Quoting the official, local daily Arrayah yesterday reported that the park is being constructed on a plot of 240,000sqm south of Al Khor City.
Al-Tamimi also announced the start of work on an Olympic Park on a space of 84,000sqm.
The Al Khor and Al Zakhira Municipality has approved new plans to develop their Corniche to better utilise the tourism potential. There will be investment opportunities for real estate developers to build hotels and resorts. Al-Tamimi also added there is a project to build a comprehensive entertainment city at Al Khor for labourers.
